Tube socket



Jan. 13, 1'953 J. D. HEIBEL 2525582 TUBE SOCKET Filed Jan. 7,'1946 2sHEETs-SHEET 1 IN V EN TOR.

J. D. HEIBEL TUBE SOCKET Jan. 13, 1953 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Jan. '7,1946 Patented Jan. 13, 1953 TUBE SOCKET Jerome D. Heibel, Eric, Pa.,assignor to Eric Resistor Corporation, Eric, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Application January 7, 1946, Serial No. 639,613

Cla-ims. (Cl.'175--41) This invention is intended to simplify theconnection of condensers to vacuum tube elements by using tubularcondensers in the tube socket around the socket terminals.

broken away, of a tube socket showing tubular condensers surrounding twoof the socket terminals and connected to a mounting plate; Fig. 2V is asectional view on line 2-2 of 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view through oneof the tubular condensers; Fig. 4 is a sectional view through one of thesocket terminale; Fig. 5 is a top plan view, partly broken away, of a.modification in which the condensers are connected to the center groundShield; Fig. 6 is a section on line E-E of Fig. 5; Pig. 7 is afragmentary section of a modification in which the tubularicondensersand contacts are inserted from the bottom of the socket; and Pig. 8 is afragmentary section of another modification in which the condenser isconnected to contactother 'than ground.

In the drawings, l indicates a mounting plate socket. The vwell hasindentations 5 which fit into complementary recesses in a mountingflange on the base and hold the base against rotation. The base is heldin the well by a plate 'l of the same general Shape as the mountingplate projecting inwardly over the top of the mounting flange 5. Theplates are secured together by tabs 8 on the plate 1 which are bent overthe mounting plate. On the top of the base is a disc 9 of insulatingmaterial having holes it' for receiving the base pins of a Vacuum tube.At the center of the base is a non-circular opening i i receiving thealigning plug of the Vacuum tube. Within the opening H is a centerground shield 12a having lips `2 sp'un over the upper surface of thedisc to hold it in place, and a lip |3 spun over a shoulder |4 on thebase around the opening ll. At the lower end the center ground shield isprovided with spring fingers E5 for looking the tube in the socket andwith a ground terminal 16.

Directly beneath the pin receiving holes IS are recesses receiving pinengaging terminals I 1 hav- 'ing integral strips |8 projecting throughslots IQ in the base. These parts are or may be of common construction.

It is desirable that some of the base pins of the vacuum tube beconnected to conden ers and it is important that the condenser leads bekept short. For these base pins there are provided enlarged recesses 2Breceiving a tubular Ceramic condenser 2| having an inner metal coating22 surrounding and in contact with pin terminal l'! and an outer metalcoating 23 in contact with tabs 2d extending through notches 25 in theside walls of the base. In order to insure good contact between the pinterminal and the condenser, the terminals are preferably made, as shownin 4, of sheet metal with a spring finger 25 in the part formingsubstantially a direct continuation of the strip 18 and with a springfinger Zl on each side which are folded toward each other to provide aroughly triangular opening for receivin'g the base pin. Below thefingers 25 and 21 are separate spring fingers 28 and a projection '29which make contact with the inner metal coating 22 of the condenser.Because the spring fingers 28 are separate from the spring fingers 26and 21 which contact the inserted pins on the vacuum tube base, theseparate spring fingers 28 can be proportioned to provide the propercontact pressure to the inner condenser electrode 22 and this contactpressure exerted by the fingers 23 will not be increased by the outwardmovement of the fingers El' such as would be produced by the insertionof the vacuum tube base pin thercbetween. This eliminates the danger ofcracking the condenser elements.

Thebase may be constructed so that the condensers may be connectedbetween each of the pin recei'v'ing terminals and the mounting platewhich will usually be grounded. The length of the condenser leads isobviously kept to a minimum since it consists of the spring contactsbetween the inner and outer condenser coatings.

In Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 is shown a modification in which the condensers areconnected between the pin terminale and the center ground shield. As inthe previously descrbed construction, the base 4 is mounted in the well2 of the mounting plate I and the mounting fiange 6 rests on theinwardly extending fiange 3 at the lower end of the well. The base isheld in the well by lips 3G on the mounting plate which are spun overthe upper edge of the mounting flange. The disc 9 with the pin receivngholes IO is held in place by spun .receiving openings 39.

over lips I2 on the center ground shield. Directly beneath the pinreceiving holes are the pin engaging contacts surrounded by the ceramiccondensers 2|. The connection to the outer metal coating 23 of thecondenser is made through a contact ring 3| seated on a projection 32 onthe base and having spring fingers 33 extending through notches 313 inthe base into contact with the outer metal coating 23 and having springfingers 35 engaging the cylindrical portion 35 of the center groundshield. In other respects the socket construction is the same as thatshown in Figs. 1 to 4 and correspcnding parts are indicated by the samereference numerals.

In the construction so far described, the pin receiving terminals andcondensers are assembled from the top and the assembly is completed byfastening the disc 9 in place.

In Fig. 7 is indicated an alternative construction in which thecondensers and terminals are inserted from the bottom. In thisconstruction the base 31 has a top wall 38 provided with pin Directlybelow the openings 39 are enlarged recesses LH) receiving the tubularceramic condenser 2| and the pin contact ll. The recesses iii) are openat the bottom and are closed by a disc 4| having slots receiving thestrips IB and held in place by spun over .lips 43 on the center groundshield and by a snap ring 44. The contact with the outer condensercoating 23 is made by a contact ring 45 similar to the contact ring 3|and having contact fingers 49 engaging the condenser coating 23 andcontact fingers Ill engaging the center ground shield.

In Fig. 8 is shown a modification of the Fig. 6 construction in whichthe'base has one or more slots 48 receiving contacts 49 engaging theouter metallic surface 23 of the condenser 2|. The contact has a springfinger 59 engaging a shoulder at the bottom of the condenser receivingrecesses. The contact also has a yieldable projection 52 making a tightfit between the contact and slot. The contact 49 is useful in connectingthe tube element to another circuit element.

What I claim as new is:

1. In a tube socket of the type having, a base, pin receiving recesses,a tubular condenser in one of the recesses and having inner and outerelectrode contact surfaces, a pin-engaging terminal Within andcontacting the inner surface of the condenser, an opening in the baseproviding access to the outer surface of the condenser. a center groundshield, and a connection from the shield engaging the outer surface ofthe condenser through said opening.

2. In a tube socket of the type having, a base, pin receiving recesses,a tubular condenser in one of the recesses and having inner and outerelectrode contact surfaces, and a pin engaging terminal within andcontacting the inner surface of the condenser, the combination of alongitudinal slot in the base open at at least one end and intersectingand extending along the recess to provide access to the outer surface ofthe condenser, and a contact having a part in said slot engaging theouter surface of the condenser and a part Vextending out of the open endof said slot for connection to another circuit element.

3. In a tube socket of the type having, a base having circularly spacedpin receiving recesses having elements therein with parts making contactwith inserted pins, the combination of a contact ring having springfingers opposite and extending longitudinally of the recesses and of theaxis of the ring, and longitudinal notches in the base receiving andlocating the spring fingers, at least one of the notches having a depthsufficient to intersect the adjacent recess to provide an openingthrough which the spring finger extends into a contact making positionwithin said recess.

4. In a tube 'socket of the type having, a base having a pin receivingrecess With a pin contact therein, a tubular condenser surrounding thepin contact and having inner and outer electrode coatings, thecombination of a longitudinal slot at one side and intersecting andextending along the recess, and a terminal in said slot having a springfinger bowed inward from the slot into engagement with the outerelectrode coating of the condenser.

5. In a tube socket of the type having, a base having pin receivingrecesses, a tubular condenser in one of the recesses and having innerand outer electrode contact surfaces, a pin engaging terminal within andcontacting the inner surface of the condenser, the combination of alongitudinally extending notch at one side of and intersecting one.recess to provide an opening into the recess, and a contact memberhaving a spring finger received in the notch and engaging the outersurface of the condenser. i

JEROME D. HEIBEL.

REFEEENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,648,605 Bobo Nov. 8, 19271,796,855 Ahlers Mar. 17, 1931 1,825,534 Mavrogenis Sept. 29, 19312,259,738 Del Camp Oct. 21, 1941 2,291,808 Henning Aug. 4, 19422,377,893 Lorenzen June 12, 1945 2,421,780 Frear June 10, 1947 2,461,658Roup Feb. 15, 1949

